


Forgetting

by lionheartedghost



Series: Brighter Days [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21675082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionheartedghost/pseuds/lionheartedghost
Summary: It wasn’t like twenty-eight was a big birthday anyway. There wasn’t anything new you could do. He still had another birthday to go before he reached his thirties. Nobody plastered ’28’ onto balloons or the fronts of cards or shiny plastic badges. So no, he hadn’t expected anything big.A ‘happy birthday’ would’ve been nice, though.Buck thinks everyone's forgotten his birthday. Eddie comforts him.Also posted on Tumblr
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Brighter Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560778
Comments: 24
Kudos: 531





	Forgetting

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tumblr anon who prompted "some Buck x Eddie comfort...where the 118 seem to forget Buck's birthday but then sneakily throw him a surprise birthday party".

It wasn’t like Buck had expected anything special. His birthday always got lost in the run-up to Christmas, had done since he was a kid in kindergarten and his friends had been more excited about getting to make snowflakes and paper chains and cover themselves in glitter and glue. And besides, it wasn’t like twenty-eight was a big birthday anyway. There wasn’t anything new you could do. He still had another birthday to go before he reached his thirties. Nobody plastered ’28’ onto balloons or the fronts of cards or shiny plastic badges. So no, he hadn’t expected anything big.  
  
A ‘happy birthday’ would’ve been nice, though.  
  
No-one had said a thing about it to him all morning. No pat on the shoulder from Bobby, no teasing comments from Hen or Chim about him getting old, not even a phone call from his sister. They’d forgotten. But that was fine. It didn’t matter.  
  
“Hey.” Buck looked up as Eddie sat down on the couch beside him.  
  
“Hey yourself.”  
  
“Listen, are you busy tonight?”  
  
“Tonight?” Buck smiled. Maybe someone _had_ remembered after all. “Why?”  
  
“Chris is staying the night at Abuela’s and I’m gonna be pretty lonely otherwise.” Eddie shrugged. “You want to come back with me after shift and save me from boredom? We can stop off at the store, get a box of beer. You up for it?”  
  
Buck tried not to show his disappointment. “Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure.”  
  
“What?” Eddie tilted his head to the side. “You got something else on?”  
  
“No. Nothing.” Buck stood up suddenly. “Sure, I’ll come over. I’m gonna go and, uh, check the truck.”  
  
Buck didn’t know if Eddie believed him. He didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

*

“Alright,” Eddie pulled to a stop in front of his house and switched off the ignition. He rubbed his hands together, turning to grin across at Buck. “Here’s what I’m thinking: nachos, beer, _Die Hard_. Sound good?”

Buck hummed unconvincingly. “Yeah. Whatever you want.”

Eddie paused. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

Eddie turned in his seat. “Buck, hey. Look at me.”

Buck shifted a little. His gaze stayed fixed on where his hands lay in his lap. “It’s nothing, Eddie, honestly.”

“It’s not nothing. Tell me.”

Buck chewed the inside of his cheek. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if it’s bothering you.”

Everything started to blur. “It _is_ stupid,” Buck insisted, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision. A stray tear escaped; he swiped angrily at it with the back of his hand. “It’s stupid. _I’m_ stupid. Don’t worry about it.”

“Hey, hey.” Eddie caught his hand. He leant forwards, brushing his thumb against Buck’s cheek. “Don’t say that. You’re not stupid. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Buck let out a shuddering breath. He looked across at Eddie finally, a watery smile tugging at his lips. “It’s my birthday. I’m twenty-eight years old and I’m crying because my busy friends with their own lives and their own families didn’t remember my birthday. I’m being stupid. Ignore me.”

“Stop it. You’re not stupid and I won’t sit here and listen to you say that about yourself. You hear me, Evan Buckley?”

Buck sniffed. “Sorry.”

“Buck.” Eddie waited until Buck met his eyes again. “When do I ever park on the street?”

Buck blinked slowly at him. “What?”

Eddie nodded towards his house. “I always park in the driveway. Why can’t I park there tonight?”

Buck peered through the window, frowning at the cars taking up the space. “That’s Chim’s car. And that’s Bobby’s truck.”

“And that one?” Eddie looked pointedly at the car parked in front of them.

Buck wiped at his face again. “That’s Hen’s.”

“And why might all these cars be parked outside my house?” Eddie asked. “Might be the same reason I made you come over after work and made sure we spent way longer than necessary choosing a box of beer that we don’t even need because the refrigerator is fully stocked.”

Buck stared at him. “I… you remembered?”

“Of course we did, Buck.”

“But I… nobody said anything and I thought…”

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if we’d said something.” Eddie hesitated. “You’re gonna have to pretend you still don’t know or Maddie’ll kill me.”

“I’m not a great actor.”

“You’ll just have to protect me from your sister, then,” Eddie smiled. “Come on, we should get in there. You’re the man of the moment. They’re waiting on you.”

Buck climbed out of Eddie’s car and closed the door, the box of beer tucked under his arm. “I feel kinda stupid now.”

“Well, I feel pretty awful for making you think we’d forgotten your birthday, so let’s just call it even.” Eddie took the beer from him and fished his keys out of his pocket. “Remember: you don’t know about any of this.”

Buck followed Eddie inside, watched him fumble for the light switch, and adopted his best shocked expression.

The lights clicked on.

“Happy birthday!”

Buck blinked at the crowd gathered in Eddie’s living room. Maddie and Chim, Bobby and Athena and the kids, Hen and Karen and Denny, Carla, Christopher and Eddie’s abuela, all crammed into a space that really wasn’t meant for that many people. “Wow. Guys, I… I don’t-”

“Eddie told him.” Chim rolled his eyes, breaking free of the crowd to grab a beer. “Told you he would.”

“He thought we’d forgotten,” Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. “I had to tell him.”

“Aw, Buck.” Maddie hugged him tightly, pulling back to study his face. If she noticed the slight redness to his eyes, she didn’t comment on it. “We’d never forget, little brother.”

Buck smiled. “Thanks for this. It’s… it’s great.”

“Well, _you’re_ great.” Maddie patted his arm before letting him go. “Happy birthday, Buck.”

“You’re getting old now, Buckaroo,” Hen chimed in. “You going grey yet?”

“I know _I_ am,” Bobby sighed, brushing a hand over the top of his hair. He headed for the kitchen, pausing to squeeze Buck’s shoulder as he passed him. “Happy birthday, kid.”

Buck looked down as Eddie took his hand, weaving his fingers between Buck’s. “You okay?” He murmured, nudging his shoulder against Buck’s.

“Yeah.” Buck brushed his thumb against the back of Eddie’s hand. “Yeah, I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it, kudos and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> If you have any prompts for me, you can leave them in the comments below or over on Tumblr [here](http://lionheartedghost.tumblr.com/)!


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